Plot of Shadowborn
This is a (slightly) condensed retelling of the plot of the Shadowborn campaign. The Plot Prologue The story began when four youths raised in Swaggerton -- Gaius Kvath, Radomir Vlasak, Kyton, and Zorgo Zardov -- were exploring what they thought was a ruined castle not far from the village. The old structure, situated at the end of a long road lined with fetishes, totems, and signs of warning, was also of interest to a pack of kobolds from the nearby warren of Menskburg. In the ruins, they found a strange old amulet filled with a swirling grey mist. The four avoided the kobolds and returned home to Swaggerton, which had fallen under attack by mysterious shadow creatures. The creatures were summoned by a warlock named Tris Tast, who cornered the teenagers in an alley during the chaos and attempted to take the amulet they had found. Zorgo was killed, and Radomir used the power of the amulet to slay Trast, but unwittingly invited the power of Trath into his own body. Not long after this disaster, the three surviving youths left Swaggerton. Gaius was the first to leave, and went looking for somebody to teach him how to fight and kill horrors like those that had attacked his home.The next to leave was Radomir, who went searching for his long-absent father. Finally, Kyton left to seek out knowledge in order to refine his latent talent for High magic. Ten Years Later A decade passed before they met again. Gaius had trained with the Hunters, and had become a proficient killer. He began travelling with Benedicton Carolus, a mercenary and strategist from Hibernea. They had just left the Life Islands on the St. Ann, a ship that had left Rentor carrying Radomir Vlasak, who had now learned the secret of true naming and was attempting to return home after being stranded on the islands and saved from basilisks by Benedicton. Kyton was on board as well, who had become a capable fire mage and the advisor of Dair Rondash, the chancellor of Karth. The chancellor was killed on the ship by a shark shifter, who was hunted and slain by the party before their arrival. When they arrived in Karth, they dealt with the Master of Karth and decided to undertake some mercenary work in the city, including clearing out nearby scrags (sea trolls), and investigating Xandropho's Tower where Kyton became bound to a dragon living there. It was at this point that Kyton began to seek a way to ensure his soul became only his own, a path that led him down progressively darker avenues until he was forced to leave the party. They were joined soon after by Cid Maxwell, a mechanic from the city of Deep Cog in Noctis who wore a mechanical suit he called "Worldwalker." With Cid, they were commissioned by the Firstlight Legion, who had just arrived in Karth, to clear St. Grohman's Basilica of zealots of the Black Flame who had moved in and corrupted the old church. Before they could leave, however, they were forced to become involved in a type of nightshade (creatures of pure darkness) called a nightwave, resembling a colossal shark, who attacked Karth's harbour. After this, they departed for the basilica, where they fought Mortanius, a high priest of Rivath, as well as a nightskitter (another kind of nightshade). They threw a party on their return to Karth where they learned that the Firstlight Legion was trying to persuade the Master of Karth to allow them to set up a permanent military base in the city. They also learned that a mysterious town has appeared north of Karth, and that an important merchant guild was in town from the distant land of Qabaar. They decided to investigate these things, beginning with the town. The Coming of Darkness The mysterious town turned out to be full of umbrans from Noctis. The party members were not welcomed in the town, and ended up fighting the town's guardian, yet another type of nightshade: this one a towering humanoid called a nightwalker. They killed the creature and took its heart, which had strong associations with necromancy, and left the town with few answers about where it came from. Back in Karth, they met with the soul merchant Adiq of Qabaar, who presented them a list of souls in the region he would pay highly for. Meanwhile, Radomir made the acquaintance of Felicity, a human who wished to be a halfling that became enamoured with him. While staying in the city, the party encountered the Chained Harbinger, the Immortal of darkness, who seemed to just appear over the bay and drift into the city. He spoke with Gaius and Benedicton, and revealed that the nightshades and the umbran town were his doing. Having no business with them, he let them be, leaving to cut a path through the city, killing dozens in the dock area alone. In response to the Chained Harbinger's appearance, the Master of Karth decided to finally surrender control to the Firstlight Legion, who immediately put the city into lockdown and attempted to challenge the Chained Harbinger. The party spoke with Adiq again, who helped them escape the city and flee for the city-state of Garaam Varask in his caravan that seemed to be pulled by invisible horses. En route, Radomir fell into a coma, where he met "face-to-face" with Trath in the Grey Demesne for the first time. They also met with Androm, a sentient construct of liquid metal who claimed to have been sent to aid Cid. At Garaam Varask, they passed through the slum-like low city to get to the walls of the inner city, but they were turned away at the gates. Apparently, a plague was spreading among the low city, and its pox-ridden citizens believed that a low magic user dwelling in a cave nearby was responsible. They went to seek him out, parting ways with Adiq and passing through the Hamlet of the Trader, where they found the entire settlement dead to disease. They then made it to the cave, where they discovered "Plague", a cancer mage so stricken with various diseases that he was virtually unrecognizable, living with a small mob of goblins who were similarly sick. Plague was the terminally ill son of the Admiral of Garaam Varask who was offered a chance at life by a High mage named Chenaline, who taught him the dark secrets of his magic. Gaius killed him while the others went to free his captives. In the process, Gaius was afflicted by a disease of his own, and found a pill in the cave that he believed would cure him. Instead, he collapsed, ravaged by many diseases striking him at the same time. The party dragged him back to Garaam Varask, where he was put into the Swollen Boil Inn in the low city. They are then let into the inner city, where they meet with the Admiral for the first time. He talks about the cancer mage situation with them, and then allows them to continue staying in the city for a time. While here, they learned that the nearby town of High Wind had been afflicted by some kind of mind-afflicting parasite, which Benedicton believed was the fault of the same High mage who corrupted Plague. He left with Androm to go investigate, and the two fought their way through the mind-controlled citizens to find Chenaline's lair beneath the town square. She was working to revive Trath, but was stopped by the two, who ended up hurling her through her own portal to Chaos. With the town safe, they returned to Garaam Varask, where Radomir had awoken from his coma. Benedicton and Androm met with Radomir and the doting Felicity, and were commissioned by the local Lord Fradd to catch a four-winged crow, which turns out to be a nosoi: a type of psychopomp. They ended up releasing the bird instead, and were then called by the Admiral of Garaam Varask. They learned that the Chained Harbinger and his forces had been bleeding into Equis from a mysterious tower called the Dark Beacon that had appeared in the Leviathan Bay, and they were asked to assist the navy in assaulting it to drive back the forces of darkness. They agreed and were brought by boat to the tower, where they fought their way downwards. Most of the navy forces dispatched there were killed quickly, leaving only the party and Felicity. While exploring the Dark Beacon, they found a strange ring that they discovered to be cursed. Radomir, irritated with the constant burden of Felicity and enraged that she had revealed the true name of Benedicton Carolus to their enemies, had her put it on under the guise of a marriage proposal. This turned out to be a token of low magic called a "death-pact ring," which slowly began turning her into an undead being, but gave her control of the Sword of Darkness, the unkillable Thorok Roth. She left Radomir's company on Thorok's shoulders, swearing revenge on him. They were soon after met by the Shield of Darkness: a vampire named Altradus Artavan, who was upset that they had done so much damage. Ultimately, Altradus let them go, provided they help deal with the oppressive Firstlight Legion in Karth. Meanwhile, Gaius was barely conscious and delirious from the many diseases he carried. A priestess was attending him, who turned out to be a follower of Poxma. She promised to cure his ailments in exchange for his swearing an oath and carrying out a ritual to become a Blightlord of Poxma, a spreader of disease, to which he agreed. He then met with Cid Maxwell, who had met the Pyromaniac of the Vigilante Justice League for the first time. They soon met up again with the rest of the party, who was carried to Garaam Varask by a flying nightshade, who then brought all of them to Karth under cover of darkness. The party assaulted the Master's villa, where Cid Maxwell and Benedicton Carolus became entangled in a bizarre game by the Face in the Mirror, the Immortal of illusion, who had been posing as the Master's butler. Meanwhile, Gaius confronted Lt. Mara Bycen and dozens of Firstlight Legion soldiers. In a last-ditch effort, he used a "negative bomb" made of voidcrystal, which nearly killed him, although he was saved at the expensive of most of his protective tattoos and wards. It destroyed a large piece of the villa, and killed everybody gathered there. He took Mara Bycen's prismatic cloak, its magic partially spent, as a trophy, and left with the others. Before they could leave, however, Adiq appeared at the manor to consume Mara's soul, as well as kill the Master and take his as well. He thanked the party for their service and paid them before they left. War on Shadow The party then went south to Graybark, heading first through Gray Pass. In Gray Pass, they helped kill a werewolf ex-Hunter named Vai Rowlins, and were given a magic pipe by Mayor Chazz for their efforts which was capable of producing any smell when smoked from. In Graybark, they learned that the Chainbreaker orcs had apparently recovered the original body of Trath, and were heading north to deliver it to his Temple: the "ruined castle" Gaius, Kyton, Radomir and Zorgo had investigated a decade before. In response, the party went to catch up with the Chainbreakers and stop them, hiring a dark elf named Phyr and bringing Gaius' old friend Varrik Mant to help. They caught up with the Chainbreakers at a makeshift camp midway between Graybark and Swaggerton and attacked the encampment. The assault cost Varrik Mant an eye, and damaged Worldwalker to the point of being unusable, but they made it to the heart of the camp where the shadow-infused chieftain Botuk Grey-eye was waiting. He challenged Gaius to personal combat while Benedicton and Cid fought against a huge skeletal dragon animated by shadow, apparently powered by Botuk himself. During the struggle against the dragon, Benedicton was killed when his spine was snapped by the skeletal dragon's tail. Cid was tossed up into the air by the dragon who crumbled when Gaius finally killed Botuk, causing Cid to plummet to the ground, and he was killed by the fall. Cid was able to give one last order to the autonomous low magic in his suit: "guard Androm." As expected, they discovered Trath's body in the camp, which was taken by Phyr, who ran away with it. While travelling back to Garaam Varask, Gaius met an orc shaman named Tonakh who had abandoned the Chainbreakers, and asked to join him. Gaius allowed this, and on the road they ran across a bounty hunter who had captured a balding physician named Inganno Asklepios, wanted for malpractice on a noble. Inganno was freed by Gaius and Tonakh, and joined them on theroad back to Garaam Varask. Near the city they were met again by a stranger, this time offering Gaius the opportunity to play a game of chance. He took it and won a strange bean, which he was told to plant at either sundown or sunrise. He did so, just south of Garaam Varask, and found it caused the place it was planted in to slowly fuse with the Grey Demesne. The party quickly fled the situation back to the city. When they made it back to the city they were met by the talking four-winged nosoi they freed before, who in thanks for their previous service told them about a way to kill an Immortal: a legendary spear called the Grey Fulcrum. It was the weapon wielded by the Grey Admiral of Garaam Varask, and was believed to be buried with him in his tomb. The party went to speak with the then-current Admiral, who, after some convincing, told them where to find the tomb. They tracked it down and went through its many traps and guardians to retrieve the spear, but discovered it needed to be charged with pure power from light, dark, and shadow. Then it could be used to kill an Immortal, but only once before the spear would be destroyed. The spear chose Tonakh to be its wielder, and would allow nobody else to do so. On the way back from the tomb they found a caravan that had been waylaid. It was carrying a "sun crystal," a large luminous gemstone that was apparently meant for delivery to an inland lighthouse that had recently been constructed. The party went to investigate, and found that the caravan was attacked by orcs, but not the Chainbreakers; rather, a different tribe, called the Bloodtusks. They also found the Inland Lighthouse, which was easily accessible, but every time they entered they found themselves leaving soon after with no recollection of what happened within. The crystal was taken from them, but they could not be sure sure how or why. They returned to Garaam Varask, where they had another confrontation with the Vigilante Justice League resulting in the death of Mr. Faceless, the imprisonment of the Pyromaniac, and the infection of Big Man. Charging the Spear They then went to meet with the Bloodtusk orcs, from whom Tonakh hoped to learn the secrets of blood magic. They offered to do so, but the ritual had to be performed: he would be wrapped from head to toe in wire that was lined with countless tiny blades, and the wire would be ripped off of him, causing him to shed all of his blood. He agreed and was killed, as expected. He made a deal with a psychopomp to return to life, which cost him both of his arms. When he breathed again, he discovered he was capable of learning the fundamentals of blood magic. Before he could learn many details, however, the Bloodtusk stronghold came under attack by nightshades, which allowed them to gain the darkness charge for the Grey Fulcrum. The party then went to seek out a way to charge the Grey Fulcrum with the power of shadow, and decided to search in the ruined temple near Swaggerton. After putting Tonakh through an underground amputee fighting ring, they finally headed to the ruined temple and made a small sacrifice at Trath's altar to acquire the power of shadow, which was put into the spear. After this, they went looking for the last charge: light. Before leaving Swaggerton, they were met by Vothug Sunfist who had been freed by Benedicton's old mercenary company as part of a long-reaching plan to help the party achieve their goals. Vothug joined them on a journey back to the Inland Lighthouse, where they found the sun crystal had been placed at the top, shining bright light all around. They managed to reach the top of the structure, and Vothug used its power to open a portal to the Brilliant Sanctum, where they fought an angel of light. The angel killed Tonakh, making Inganno into the new spear-bearer. He killed the angel with the spear, giving it its final charge. They then left the plane of light, and decided to go back to where Gaius planted the shadow seed. On the road they ran across the Firstlight Legion who was headed to the same destination. This was a new detachment, led by a Lt. Rand Lucen that had apparently been transferred through a mass portal created by the now-damaged Inland Lighthouse. The party claims innocence on this matter and joins them on their march, meeting with their newest recruit: a dwarven mercenary named Rundrig Alestorm. Rand is leading his forces to meet with the main force of light, which is being led by none other than Cerielle herself. Killing the Immortals Gaius and Inganno pushed their way through the forces to approach Cerielle, who demanded that they kneel before her. Gaius does, laying down his weapon, providing a distraction and an opportunity for Inganno to thrust the spear through her back. The resulting explosion of light magic seemed poised to kill them, but they shielded themselves with their prismatic cloaks, expending all of the cloaks' power and transferring Cerielle's abilities into them, temporarily granting them near-godlike powers. They used these powers to find Trath, who had taken over Garaam Varask in Radomir's body. They killed Radomir, at which point Inganno's body was destroyed by an overflow of his own power. Gaius then went alone to the Dark Beacon, which had been moved over top of the ruined Master's villa in Karth, shrouding the city in darkness. He attempted to finish off the Chain Harbinger, but was killed by Altradus Artavan. Gaius' body was then possessed by an unrelenting desire to finish what he started, and Rundrig (as well as a bard named Dunwick the Doomed who had been imprisoned in the Beacon) followed Gaius' near-mindless corpse in awe as he cut a path of destruction down to the base of the tower. Here he confronted the Immortal of darkness and uses the last of his power to create a black hole, sucking in the tower, the Immortal, and a large portion of the surroundings. Dunwick and Rundrig escaped the carnage, just barely. Rundrig took up drinking, while Dunwick went on to tell the stories of what had happened.